Never Lonely Alone
by TheCosmicMoth
Summary: Effrain thinks back to when and why he first made his pact with the sloth demon, Belphegor.


**Never Lonely Alone**

 **Part One: It's Lit Fam**

Effrain sat at a dying fire in the temporary camp set up for the refugees he and his friends had just helped escape from the besieged city of Phlan. There was a somber mood hanging around the camp. Many of the refugees had been killed earlier in the day by Ixusasha's fireball. Some were still critically injured, and you could hear their faint cries of pain coming from the infirmary tents on the outskirts of the camp. Worse yet, all the booze was being used to treat the injured, and Effrain's flasks were nearly empty. He was trying to stretch out what was left as far as he could, but it was only a matter of time before he would be… gulp…sober. He tried not to think about it and started to absent-mindedly roll a cigarette.

He looked around the camp to see what the others were up to. Ironically, the easiest to spot was the halfling bard, Kithri. She was standing on top of a tree stump and playing some light, soothing music on her harp for the refugees gathered around her. Next, Effrain spotted Morg seated around another tree stump and winning an arm-wrestling match. There seemed to be a line of young men from Phlan who wanted to challenge the barbarian. _Good luck, fellas_ , Effrain thought to himself. Then he scanned for Rovidia and found the elf ranger hovering around the young cleric Cassyt. Cassyt, however, still seemed to be giving Rovidia the cold shoulder over the elf's recent adventures in tomb robbing. A little behind that scene, Effrain found Cricket. The tabaxi monk was performing leaps and flips to entertain the refugee children. A large group of kids stood around him laughing and clapping. The only one missing was- oh- WAS Red Tail, but Effrain now saw that the tabaxi warrior was fast approaching him.

This made Effrain jump a little because, though Red Tail was a trusted ally, the warlock couldn't help but be a little intimidated by the cat warrior's martial prowess. Effrain had seen Red Tail in action and knew that a single blow from his falchion would most definitely crush Effrain's slight, wiry frame. Still, that made Red Tail a good friend to have, so Effrain nodded to him in greeting as the tabaxi sat across from the warlock around the fire. Red Tail returned his nod, and then the fighter's yellow eyes glared directly into Effrain's.

"You've… never told us of your pact with the demon… and… how it came to be," Red Tail pulled his patchwork cloak tight. "Would you… share that with me now?"

"My pact with Belphegor…," Effrain said exhaling smoke. Then his thoughts drifted back to Neverwinter.

 **Part Two: The Hidden Nook**

"Get out of here, freak," Bub, red-faced, said as he threw Effrain to the ground. The other children laughed as Effrain skidded across the dirt.

"Go back to The Gulley, witch boy," another child called out from the gathering crowd.

Effrain looked down at his right hand to find that he must have scrapped it against something in the fall. There was a large gash and the boy's blood had begun seeping out. Then he felt a sharp pain to the back of his head as a rock struck it dead center and fell to his side. Effrain cried out but instinctively shot to his feet as two or three more rocks whizzed past him. Without thinking, he began to run back in the direction of home.

"That's right, witch boy, run back home to mommy," Bub yelled after him.

Effrain's feet carried him past the wind-swept Neverwinter plains drenched in the late afternoon sun and towards the wooded area surrounding the path to Mount Hotenow. Not too far into the woods, the boy stopped himself at the mouth of The Gulley. The route to his home was flanked by large oak trees. Their sharp, thin, spindly branches jutted across the path as if to halt trespassers. Effrain carefully made his way down into The Gulley. He took care to prevent his head from being slashed by the branches, and he made sure his feet found sure purchase as the grey, dead leaves that made up the ground hid treacherous rocks and jutting trash that had been thrown down by dwellers of the city. Tossing your garbage down The Gulley was almost a rite of passage for Neverwinter townies. It made the journey back home a little more dangerous, but Effrain was fond of the smashed wagon that acted as a landmark to tell him that he was almost home.

Passing that smashed wagon, Effrain breathed a sigh of relief as the tiny cottage he called home came into view. Delicate wisps of sunlight descended on the poorly thatched roof of the cottage from the small circle where the oak trees gave way. There was smoke bustling from the chimney suggesting that something was cooking inside which made Effrain's stomach rumble. As he moved closer to his home, the boy caught sight of his younger brother, Tarian, building something out of sticks in the tiny lawn. Effrain tried to pass by quietly, but, as soon as he got close, his brother looked up from the stick project and examined Effrain up and down.

"What happened to you?"

"I tripped," Effrain muttered and then hurried to the door.

"You can't let them do that to you, Effrain," his brother shouted after him. "You've got to fight back."

Effrain closed the door behind him to shut out his brother only to be greeted by the sight of his younger sister, Yasmine, reading a book on the sofa. Her eyes darted up from the book's pages and caught her older brother dead-center. She slowly set the book down with a smug grin on her face. She shook her head at him.

"You are soooo dirty. Mom is going to be soooo mad."

"Quiet, you," Effrain shot back at her. Then he darted towards the stairs and tried to climb them as quietly as possible. He wisely avoided the steps he knew would creak under his weight and he nimbly avoided using the crooked bannister that would surely knock against the wall and give him away. He had reached the top when he suddenly heard a noise that made his heart freeze. There was a rustling coming from his mother's room. _His mother was upstairs._

Slowly and oh-so softly, Effrain tip-toed to the doorway of his mother's room. Then he slid to the side of the door frame and rested his back against the wall. Carefully and without making a sound, he peaked his head around the corner of the frame, so he could see what his mother was doing and if it would be safe to sneak into his own room. What he saw was his mother with his back towards him. She seemed to be fussing with something outside the far wall of her room… no _… inside_ the far wall of her room. Curious, Effrain inched his head further into the frame to see what was happening. Now he could see that there was a small nook in the wall of his mother's room that he had never seen before. Fully intrigued, Effrain stepped out into the center of the door frame, arched his neck, and stood on his toes so he could see what his mother was fussing with. In his mother's hands were two books. They both looked old. One was thick and had a black cover with a big symbol on it that meant nothing to Effrain but still bothered him. The other was smaller, thinner with a dark blue cover that looked worn and delicate.

Effrain's mother, The Witch of The Gulley, tucked both books into the secret nook with care. Then she stood up, snapped her fingers, and the wall closed in over the nook like it had never really been there at all. Effrain quickly ducked back around behind the doorframe before his mother had the chance to turn around. Then he began to slide back towards the staircase trying to keep himself out of view from the door way of his mother's room. The effort did, however, make him forget to avoid the floor boards that creak.

 _Creeeeeeaaak…_

"Effrain?" His mother called out. "Is that you?"

 **Part Three: Tough Luck, Bub**

"He's a son of a witch."

The archwizard glared down at Effrain from his seat like he was staring at a three-week-old cow pie that could no longer even attract flies. The other wizards seated around the room were all fixated on the archwizard as if they were studying his every breath. Arcane light baubles zipped up, down, and around Effrain to give the archwizard a better look at the young man. Finally, the aged archwizard snorted and shook his head.

"No, no, no. He is not fit for this School of Evocation. If we start bringing filth like him into our ranks, then every commoner that can sound out a word will start applying. Get him out of my halls at once."

Just like that, Effrain was shuffled back into the streets of Neverwinter and his one shot at becoming a wizard was over as soon as it started. A numb feeling started growing in the pit of Effrain's stomach. What would he do now? His mother's edict had been clear. He would get into wizarding school or he would get a job… out here… among all the flatlanders. He could only imagine what sort of job _they_ would give him. Maybe someone would hire him to shovel dung out of barns, or maybe he could get work sweeping Inn floors and emptying chamber pots… or maybe he could even be a clown for children's birthday parties.

"Look kids! Look at the freak from The Gulley! Watch him dance and flail as we throw rocks! What fun!"

Yeah, Effrain was sure the flatlanders would give him a great job. Just… _great_ … The young man braced himself up against a wall. He'd just been wandering around aimlessly since being ejected from The School of Evocation. He was trying to decide where, exactly, he was thinking of going next when he heard a familiar voice.

"I said I wanted it done by today, freak!"

Drawn by the voice, Effrain peered around the wall and was met by the red-face that taunted him in his childhood. There towered the stout frame of Bub. He was older now, larger. Sure enough, though, it was him. Effrain had heard that Bub inherited his father's tannery. This must be it. Currently, Bub had a horse whip clutched in his fat hand. He was holding it over his head, arm raised, as if he were about to use it to strike the tiefling that was cowering in Bub's considerable shadow. The tiefling, a thin male who was wearing a smock, sported a gash on his left cheek indicating that he'd already taken a hit or two.

"Look what you've done," Bub roared. "You've made me late! I've a carriage waiting for me and those things ain't cheap, y'know!" He slapped the whip into the tiefling's side causing the poor man to crumple to the straw-covered "floor."

That's when Effrain felt something in his mind just sort of give, and he turned his head to scan the street. Then he found what he was looking for. Parked across from the tannery and a little further down the street was a cherry oak carriage trimmed with purple satin. Standing outside the carriage was its bored driver, drinking from a flask and actively trying not to notice the scene playing out in the tannery. Effrain started to grin and made his way over to the carriage driver.

"Is this Lord Bub's carriage?" Effrain asked him.

The driver barely took a glance at him but nodded. Effrain thanked him, walked up to the horses harnessed to the carriage, picked out the biggest one, and gave it the hardest slap he possibly could straight to its backside. The big horse took off with a start which caused the other horses to take off with it which caused the carriage to fly off with them which caused the driver to spill to his ass and drop his flask to the ground. The driver then looked up, astonished, as he watched the carriage tear off down the street and into the distance. Then, bewildered, he looked back up at Effrain.

"What'd you do that for?" The driver hopped up from the ground and took off running after the carriage. "Help! Someone! Help! The carriage! Stop the carriage!"

The driver's shouts caught Bub's attention. He stopped his vicious attacks against his poor employee and noticed that his expensive ride home was now soaring down the block. Bub dropped the horse whip and almost jumped out of his boots to chase after it. Effrain saluted Bub as he passed him on the street. Then Effrain made his way inside the tannery and over to the tiefling who was still cowering on the floor. Effrain looked down at him and offered his hand.

"It's cool. You can get up now."

The tiefling took one look at Effrain and, with fear in his eyes, scrambled up to run away from him. Effrain watched as the tiefling took off in the direction opposite of Bub and the carriage. Effrain shrugged. _I guess the poor guy was too traumatized to thank me_ , he thought. That's when Effrain noticed there were now two city guards coming his way. _Whoops…_

Just as they were about to reach him, a blond young man in a fine, purple shirt blocked their advance. He appeared as if from nowhere and interposed himself between the guards and Effrain. Upon seeing this new figure, the guards stopped dead in their tracks and then both took a knee in front of the young noble. They even averted their eyes from his face.

"Lord Renaer, sir," the guards uttered in unison.

"This young man," the noble said pointing at Effrain, "is on a secret mission for my father, Dagult, and his work is not to be interfered with. Understood?"

"Yes, sir. Of course, sir. We're sorry, sir," the guards pleaded.

"Alright," the young noble replied, "dismissed."

At that, the two guards stood, bowed to the young man, and then quickly retreated from the scene. Once they were out of sight, the young noble turned to face Effrain. As he did, something curious happened. His features and clothing began to change as he turned. When he was finally face-to-face with Effrain, he was no longer the blond noble, Renaer Neverember. He was now a shabby looking young man with brown hair in a beat-up, green, leather coat. He looked at Effrain and grinned.

"Well, that was easy, but let's get out of here before they get back." He motioned for Effrain to follow him and then took off down the street at a mean pace.

"Hey, wait!" Effrain rushed after him. "How'd you do that?"

"Oh that," the young man said. "That was just a simple illusion. Child's play." He stopped to scoop up the flask the carriage driver had dropped. He took a swig and then handed it to Effrain.

Cautiously, Effain accepted it and took a little sip. The liquid burned in his throat and caused him to gag. "W-who are you?" Effrain coughed out to his new friend.

The shabby young man bowed at Effrain with a flourish. "My name is Raeglaess."

"Effrain," he said trying to return the flask.

Raeglaess held up a hand. "Keep it. You earned it after that beautiful trick with the carriage. You did it to help the tiefling, yeah?" Effrain nodded. "Well then, Effrain, let me tell you about this new group I'm starting. I think you'll fit in quite nicely."


End file.
